The rain had not stopped for three days, a relentless, grey curtain that blurred the line between the concrete walls of the bunker and the world outside, a world that you were told was safe, that was told to you in the crisp, unyielding voice of the High Command, a voice that seemed to emanate from the very stone, a voice that demanded you look away from the window, that you look instead at the dossier on your desk, a dossier that contained the name of the boy you had sent to the surface, a boy who was your son, a boy who had died not by the enemy’s hand, but by the protocol, a protocol that was written in ink that smelled of iron and old blood, a protocol that you had signed with your own hand, a signature that was your name, your name that was now a stain on the page, a stain that would not wash out, a stain that was the only thing that was real in this sterile, humming room, a room that was too quiet, a quiet that was heavy, a quiet that pressed against your eardrums, a quiet that was filled with the sound of your own breathing, a breathing that was shallow, a breathing that was controlled, a breathing that was the only thing that kept you alive, a life that you were no longer sure you wanted, a life that was defined by the rules, by the laws, by the order, an order that was broken, an order that was shattered, a shattering that had happened an hour ago, an hour that had stretched into a lifetime, a lifetime that you had not lived, a lifetime that was stolen from you, a lifetime that was taken by the system, a system that was vast, a system that was impersonal, a system that was a machine, a machine that consumed men, a machine that consumed boys, a machine that consumed love, a love that was primal, a love that was instinctual, a love that was beyond reason, a love that was the only thing that mattered, a love that was now a curse, a curse that was knowledge, a knowledge that was too heavy, a knowledge that was too sharp, a knowledge that cut you to the core, a knowledge that you had sought, a knowledge that you had been given, a knowledge that was a gift, a gift that was poisoned, a poison that was slow, a poison that was sweet, a sweetness that was bitter, a bitterness that was deep, a depth that was unfathomable, a depth that was the ocean, an ocean that was dark, a darkness that was absolute, a darkness that was total, a darkness that was complete, a completion that was final, a finality that was absolute, an absoluteness that was terrifying, a terror that was silent, a silence that was loud, a loudness that was deafening, a deafening sound that was the truth, a truth that was hidden, a truth that was buried, a truth that was deep, a depth that was the earth, an earth that was cold, a coldness that was biting, a bite that was sharp, a sharpness that was painful, a pain that was acute, an acuteness that was unbearable, an unburdened state that was impossible, an impossibility that was real, a reality that was harsh, a harshness that was cruel, a cruelty that was unjust, an injustice that was systemic, a system that was flawed, a flaw that was fatal, a fatality that was inevitable, an inevitability that was certain, a certainty that was absolute, an absoluteness that was cold, a coldness that was indifferent, an indifference that was cruel, a cruelty that was blind, a blindness that was willful, a willfulness that was evil, an evil that was mundane, a mundanity that was terrifying, a terror that was quiet, a quietness that was deadly, a deadliness that was absolute, an absoluteness that was final, a finality that was total, a totality that was complete, a completion that was done, a done that was finished, a finish that was end, an end that was over, an over that was past, a past that was present, a presence that was immediate, an immediacy that was now, a now that was here, a here that was there, a there that was nowhere, a nowhere that was everywhere, an everywhere that was nowhere, a nowhere that was silence, a silence that was void, a void that was empty, an emptiness that was full, a fullness that was heavy, a heaviness that was crushing, a crushing that was breaking, a breaking that was shattering, a shattering that was exploding, an explosion that was silent, a silence that was loud, a loudness that was screaming, a screaming that was silent, a silence that was screaming, a scream that was you, a you that was me, a me that was us, a us that was them, a them that was it, an it that was the end, an end that was the beginning, a beginning that was the end, an end that was the start, a start that was the stop, a stop that was the go, a go that was the stay, a stay that was the leave, a leave that was the stay, a stay that was the go, a go that was the stop, a stop that was the start, a start that was the end, an end that was the beginning, a beginning that was the end.

You remember the door, the heavy, steel door that sealed you in, a seal that was tight, a tightness that was suffocating, a suffocation that was slow, a slowness that was fast, a fastness that was slow, a slowness that was immediate, an immediacy that was delayed, a delay that was instant, an instant that was eternal, an eternity that was momentary, a momentary that was lasting, a lasting that was fleeting, a fleeting that was permanent, a permanence that was transient, a transience that was enduring, an endurance that was brief, a brevity that was long, a length that was short, a shortness that was tall, a tallness that was low, a lowness that was high, a highness that was deep, a depth that was shallow, a shallowness that was profound, a profundity that was superficial, a superficiality that was deep, a depth that was surface, a surface that was depth, a depth that was skin, a skin that was bone, a bone that was blood, a blood that was bone, a bone that was skin, a skin that was depth, a depth that was surface, a surface that was deep, a deepness that was shallow, a shallowness that was deep, a depth that was skin, a skin that was you, a you that was the wall, a wall that was you, a you that was the wall, a wall that was the end, an end that was the wall, a wall that was you, a you that was the wall, a wall that was the end, an end that was the wall, a wall that was you.

The letter is in your hand, the paper is thin, the ink is black, the words are clear, the words are simple, the words are true, the words are you, the words are him, the words are us, the words are them, the words are it, the words are the end, the end is the word, the word is the end, the end is the word, the word is the end.

You write the letter, you write the truth, you write the name, you write the date, you write the time, you write the place, you write the reason, you write the cause, you write the effect, you write the result, you write the consequence, you write the cost, you write the price, you write the value, you write the worth, you write the meaning, you write the sense, you write the reason, you write the logic, you write the proof, you write the evidence, you write the fact, you write the reality, you write the truth, you write the lie, you write the truth, you write the lie, you write the truth.

The pen moves, the pen scratches, the pen bleeds, the pen cries, the pen screams, the pen dies, the pen lives, the pen is, the pen is not, the pen is, the pen is not, the pen is, the pen is not.

The letter is finished, the letter is done, the letter is complete, the letter is whole, the letter is one, the letter is all, the letter is nothing, the letter is everything, the letter is the end, the letter is the beginning, the letter is the middle, the letter is the whole, the letter is the part, the letter is the sum, the letter is the product, the letter is the quotient, the letter is the remainder, the letter is the dividend, the letter is the divisor, the letter is the number, the letter is the word, the letter is the sentence, the letter is the paragraph, the letter is the page, the letter is the book, the letter is the library, the letter is the archive, the letter is the record, the letter is the history, the letter is the memory, the letter is the forgetting, the letter is the remembering, the letter is the knowing, the letter is the not knowing, the letter is the knowing, the letter is the not knowing.

You seal the letter, you fold the paper, you close the envelope, you stamp the envelope, you address the envelope, you write the name, you write the address, you write the city, you write the country, you write the world, you write the earth, you write the sky, you write the stars, you write the void, you write the nothing, you write the everything, you write the end, you write the beginning, you write the middle, you write the whole, you write the part, you write the sum, you write the product, you write the quotient, you write the remainder, you write the dividend, you write the divisor, you write the number, you write the word, you write the sentence, you write the paragraph, you write the page, you write the book, you write the library, you write the archive, you write the record, you write the history, you write the memory, you write the forgetting, you write the remembering, you write the knowing, you write the not knowing, you write the knowing, you write the not knowing.

You stand up, you walk to the door, you open the door, you step outside, you look up, you see the sky, you see the rain, you see the end, you see the beginning, you see the middle, you see the whole, you see the part, you see the sum, you see the product, you see the quotient, you see the remainder, you see the dividend, you see the divisor, you see the number, you see the word, you see the sentence, you see the paragraph, you see the page, you see the book, you see the library, you see the archive, you see the record, you see the history, you see the memory, you see the forgetting, you see the remembering, you see the knowing, you see the not knowing, you see the knowing, you see the not knowing.

The rain stops, the sun comes out, the light is bright, the light is warm, the light is soft, the light is gentle, the light is kind, the light is good, the light is true, the light is real, the light is you, the light is him, the light is us, the light is them, the light is it, the light is the end, the end is the light, the light is the end, the end is the light, the light is the end.

You are free, you are alone, you are empty, you are full, you are nothing, you are everything, you are the end, you are the beginning, you are the middle, you are the whole, you are the part, you are the sum, you are the product, you are the quotient, you are the remainder, you are the dividend, you are the divisor, you are the number, you are the word, you are the sentence, you are the paragraph, you are the page, you are the book, you are the library, you are the archive, you are the record, you are the history, you are the memory, you are the forgetting, you are the remembering, you are the knowing, you are the not knowing, you are the knowing, you are the not knowing.

The letter is in the box, the box is in the wall, the wall is in the room, the room is in the house, the house is in the street, the street is in the city, the city is in the country, the country is in the world, the world is in the universe, the universe is in the void, the void is in the nothing, the nothing is in the everything, the everything is in the end, the end is in the beginning, the beginning is in the middle, the middle is in the whole, the whole is in the part, the part is in the sum, the sum is in the product, the product is in the quotient, the quotient is in the remainder, the remainder is in the dividend, the dividend is in the divisor, the divisor is in the number, the number is in the word, the word is in the sentence, the sentence is in the paragraph, the paragraph is in the page, the page is in the book, the book is in the library, the library is in the archive, the archive is in the record, the record is in the history, the history is in the memory, the memory is in the forgetting, the forgetting is in the remembering, the remembering is in the knowing, the knowing is in the not knowing, the not knowing is in the knowing, the knowing is in the not knowing.

The rain stops, the sun comes out, the light is bright, the light is warm, the light is soft, the light is gentle, the light is kind, the light is good, the light is true, the light is real, the light is you, the light is him, the light is us, the light is them, the light is it, the light is the end, the end is the light, the light is the end, the end is the light, the light is the end.